University of the Pacific alumnus John-Howard Bobo ’25 has earned a spot on Banana Ball’s Party Animals team after a viral TikTok music video and a competitive audition.

The fast-growing league, which blends baseball with high-energy entertainment, has become a nationwide draw, filling stadiums with fans eager to see its signature mix of backflips, dancing, singing and on-field antics.

Bobo, who goes by “Big Bo,” reflects on the life-changing year and how Pacific has had a lasting impact. 

Q: Describe what it's like playing for the Party Animals. 

Bobo: Playing for the Party Animals has been life changing for me. I am allowed to be myself in every shape or form. I can be chaotic. I can be outgoing. I can be loud. I can be flashy, and it's really allowed myself to embrace who I am as a person and a player. 

Q: What are you most known for on the team? Do you have a signature move or song?

I am most known as the rapper, songwriter and overall goofball. My signature move, I would say, I do the behind-the-back catch a lot. 

Q: How did you land a spot on the team? 

A: I originally made a Banana Ball song last summerand I decided that's what I was going to do for my application. I made a music video. It landed me a tryout. It was also months and months of learning how to do backflip catches, training, all while working a nine to five and coaching little kids’ baseball. During the tryout, I landed some backflip catches, walked up with my own music playing on the speaker and then ended up hitting a home run on the first pitch of the tryout.

Q: Do you have a favorite venue that you've played at so far? 

A: Yankee Stadium was really nostalgic for me. It's also kind of crazy because my grandmother, her lifelong dream was to see me play at Yankee Stadium. She died the day of the Banana Ball draft, so being able to do that and knowing that she was watching over me from above was definitely giving me chills the whole weekend. 

Q: What stands out to you the most from your time as a Tiger?

A: I met a lot of really good people at Pacific, and one person I specifically want to shout out is Coach Reed Peters. God rest his soul. (Peters died earlier this year due to an illness). He changed my life. We had a sit-down conversation during winter break, and I was like, “Skip, I'm not gonna lie to you. I think I'm gonna quit.” I just came off wrist surgery and wasn't gonna play very much. He said, “just take this winter break, reset. You'll figure it out.” I came back and by the time opening day came around, I was the starting center fielder opening night. He didn't give up on me.  

Another person is Sonia Bradley (sports therapist). She gave me the tools to work on myself mentally, emotionally and physically. I also want to shout out Dominic Alejandre. I went through so many injuries. Dom was always in my corner. And Andrew Urbastondo (assistant coach). When I was going through personal things, whether it was relationships or baseball-wise, I could always call him, even at 1 a.m.

Q: What did playing college baseball teach you that you still rely on today?

A: College baseball taught me to trust the process. Those five a.m. lifts. The 7 p.m. practices after a full day of classes. Sometimes dreaded it. Sometimes it was fun. But it definitely taught me to trust the process and learn that there's more than just playing baseball. You have to put in the work to get to where you want to be as a team and as a person.